Notwithstanding incomplete or over-simplified U.S. Department of Labor "guidance", employers should recognize that the FLSA overtime regular rate will almost always vary as the overtime hours worked in a workweek vary.

South Carolina employers' preparations for changes in the FLSA's "white collar" exemption regulations must take into account the state's law requiring advance notice of modifications in an employee's pay plan.

"Guidance" offered by the U.S. Labor Department appears to be misleading employers into thinking that they can comply with the FLSA's overtime requirements by paying a "fixed salary" that "includes" FLSA overtime wages for varying numbers of overtime hours worked.

Some might find U.S. Labor Department "Fact Sheets" to be useful summaries or overviews in evaluating exemption status, but these materials are not themselves the definitions of exempt status under the FLSA's Section 13(a)(1).

Employers who are currently relying upon a "highly compensated" version of the FLSA's white-collar exemptions should carefully consider the 2016/2017 transitional implications of the higher "total annual compensation" dollar amount that goes into effect on December 1.